PRINCETON GAMEDAY

Who: Princeton Tigers (10-3, 0-1 Ivy) vs.  (DIII) Kean Cougars (10-6, 6-4 NJAC)

When/Where: 2 p.m. Sunday, Jadwin Gym

Coverage: WPRB 103.3 FM, Ivy League Digital Network

Coaches: Princeton – Mitch Henderson. Kean – Rob Kurzinsky.

Projected lineup:

Princeton: C Hans Brase (6-8, sophomore, 11.9 PPG, 6.1 RPG, 2.6 APG). F Will Barrett (6-10, senior, 11.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG). G Ben Hazel (6-5, junior, 10.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG). G Jimmy Sherburne (6-3, senior, 6.5 PPG, 2.1 RPG, 2 APG). G T.J. Bray (6-5, senior, 17.4 PPG, 3.7 RPG, 6.2 APG).

Kean: G Ali Mix (5-11, senior, 18.2 PPG, 4.1 APG, 3 RPG). G Michael Burton (5-7, senior, 15 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 2.7 APG). G Tommy Soulias (6-2, sophomore, 1.7 PPG, 4.6 RPG). C Xavier Fuller (6-5, senior, 10.5 PPG, 7.1 RPG). F Tim Steward (6-3, junior, 3.1 PPG, 3.6 RPG).

Good to see you again: The Princeton Tigers will finally take to the court again Sunday afternoon, hosting the Division III Kean Cougars 15 days after their tough Ivy-opening loss to Penn at the Palestra. The break, of course, was to accommodate the university’s exam period. Because they are not allowed to have official practices during that time, the Tigers often chose to play a DIII game to work off the post-exam rust.

“We sort of feel like it’s a strange situation here that’s been going on for years, where we have exams after the break for the holidays,” coach Mitch Henderson said Friday. “We just feel like it’s an opportunity to put the uniform on and get back in the swing of things, because we haven’t played in three weeks.”

Gym time: While the Tigers didn’t schedule any full practices during the exam period, many of the players made the trek down to Jadwin Gym on their own accord — both to stay sharp for when the games resumed and to relieve some of that exam-time stress.

“They have opportunities to come down, and most of the guys are really good about getting themselves down here,” Henderson said. “For some of them, they need a little break from studying all the time, so they come down here to get some shots up. We just try to make the gym available.”

Size matters: If you’ve ever wondered about the comparative quality of Division I and Division III basketball, just look at these two teams’ rosters. Kean’s tallest starter is 6-foot-5 center Xavier Fuller, who is the same height as Princeton point guard T.J. Bray.

“The size difference is obviously something big between us and Division III, but its really just a chance to get out there and work on our offense without to much pressure, and without worrying that if we lose this game we aren’t going to win the championship and this and that,” Will Barrett said Friday. “It’s a great thing for our team.”

No TCNJ?: The past three post-exams DIII games have been Mercer County matchups, with the Tigers hosting TCNJ. Henderson said getting Kean on the schedule was “just to mix things up,” though on paper at least the Cougars should present a little bit tougher of a challenge than the Lions. Kean is 10-6 overall (6-4 in the NJAC) and beat TCNJ 91-62 Saturday afternoon in Union.